Hello,

Andrew Goldfinch was nice enough to donate this one [gee he's a nice
fellow ]. Being that his palate is much more developed than mine, I
am interested to see what he found in this one.

Being Good Friday we went around to mum and dad's for some fish and
chips [why I'm not allowed to eat meat I don't know, I'm agnostic these
days].

We cracked this open. Dad took a sniff, then took a sip, and his eyes
lit and up he said "Gee, that's not bad is it?". Mum had been drinking
something and lemonade or maybe diet coke for some time, so did not like
it. My better half had a faltering whiff and sip and said "That's not
bad, not as bitter as the stuff you usually give me." [cab sauv and
shiraz normally].

Anyway....

Colour: initially impenetrable ink. Ruby red / crimsony around rim. With
more light still rather dark crimson / maroon. The ambient light was
somewhat soft, so it was a little difficult. I don't mind an inky colour
personally. It says deep, dark, warm, confort to me.

Medium bodied. Clings to glass without legs when swirled. Legs develop
when tipped to edge of glass.

Nose: Lovely warm characteristics. Suprisingly to me a hint of spice.
Cherry. A bit of plum. Something else I can't pick up. Thought I smelled
caramel at one point. Detected a touch of kerosene. Predominantly cherry
driven. Hint of alcohol. Reasonably complex. Interesting.

Palate: Suprisingly spicy. Dark cherry. Spice. Long drying savoury
tongue smacking finish. Occaisionally a long tongue burning spice on a
long finish. Finish long. Something driving the finish I can't describe.
Biscuit at one stage. A fair bit in there to consider. Smooth, no sharp
angles.


I quite liked this wine. Dad especially so. I would have liked a touch
more upfront fruit personally, but that is my taste.

I would certainly buy it, and Dad was asking where he could get it. Dan
Murphy's does not stock it. The winery is on the Mornington Peninsula in
Balnarring so its not too far away.

I think Andrew said he payed $AU15 for this at Nick's. I checked the
Marinda Park website and its $AU18 at cellar door or mail order [mail
order +$10 in major capital cities]. Interestingly this is a second
level wine. There is another pinot noir that cellar doors at $28 [makes
you wonder how good *this* one is].




From www.marindapark.com :
Our winemaker, Sandro Mosele, crafts our wines by balancing the use of
modern Australian techniques with a Burgundian style approach. Complex
and well structured, with elegantly understated fruit and oak, our wines
reflect the uniqueness of our terroir. Sandro’s employs many old world
winemaking techniques such as hand plunging and hand stirring, some
wine, such as the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Merlot, is matured in small
French oak barriques.

And: To produce optimum quality fruit we prune our vines to produce
about 2 - 3 tonnes to the acre. This is probably about half the yield
that could be coaxed from them; however grape quality and yield are
usually inversely related.
Our grape and wine production is very labour intensive. All canopy
management, pruning and harvesting is carried out by hand to ensure our
grapes are grown and picked in optimal condition – a great commitment to
producing high quality fruit.